Milan, 16 February 2018 – Wout Van Aert has been recently crowned UCI Cyclocross World Champion for the third consecutive time, the same number of consecutive victories as the UCI Road World Champion, Peter Sagan. A great duel is expected between them on the course of Strade Bianche, on Saturday 3 March, with many other champions also announced at the start, including last year's winner, Michał Kwiatkowski. Race organiser RCS Sport has added an extra wild card for the race, increasing the number of teams at the start to 21, each with seven riders for a total of 147.

The recently cancelled Tour of Alberta and the organisation that promoted the event for its five-year run still owe creditors more than $1.6 million (Canadian), according to bankruptcy documents Cyclingnews obtained this week.

The Alberta Peloton Association, the organisation formed specifically to promote the UCI 2.1 race, claimed $1,615,408 in outstanding liabilities against $19,410 of assets, all of which come from "machinery and equipment." The Alberta Peloton Association claims it has no cash on hand or any other assets, according to the documents.

Key points Organised for the first time by A.S.O. and the German Cycling Federation, the Tour of Germany will take place between 23rd and 26th August over four stages, with a total distance of 740 kilometres to be covered between Koblenz and Stuttgart. The stages are designed for sprinters and punchers, who will have to keep their wits about them on circuit finishes, with a number of tough bumps.

Ten years after the last edition of the Tour of Germany, the pack will again come together on the most photographed site in Koblenz, the “German Corner”, at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. Emperor William I overlooks the site, in the form of a statue of the monarch on horseback, reinforcing the venue’s sense of majesty. However, the riders will soon forget about the tourist attractions on the route, because they will have to focus on preparing for a probable sprint finish in the historic heart of Bonn. It should give rise to a solid show of force, but the leader who will be present at the start the following day will not be likely to keep his jersey on the way to Trier, which the pack will reach after having tackled 3 000 metres of positive gradient, including, on the final circuit, a double climb of the Petrisberg hill (2 km, with some sections of the slope at a 10% gradient). A puncher is almost certain to take control of the race here and will have to battle to maintain his position between Trier and Merzig, where another hill will be climbed twice, offering opportunities of revenge to those who did not taste victory the previous day. The riders will have to keep a cool head until the finish in Stuttgart: the last difficulty, 6.4 km from the finish, will again sort out who are the toughest and most agile sprinters before an ultimate high-speed battle on Theodor-Heuss Strasse.

Women and children in the loop…Associated with drawing up the Tour of Germany via a community platform that has enabled them to have their say in the design of the route, cycling enthusiasts will be invited to be a part of the celebrations during the four stages on the programme:

• Each day, the “Kids Tour” organises a race for children at the site of the finish.• An “Expo Tour” will welcome inquisitive passers-by and enthusiasts to a free admission village, involving many activities and exhibitors.• A “Ride Tour” will be open to the public for people who want to take a bike ride on a 2 to 3 km circuit closed to traffic.• On 25th August, an official international women’s race, called the “Newcomer Tour” will be organised and is open to young women aged less than 17 years, on a route measuring approximately 70 km.• On 26th August, a major cyclo-sportive race will be ridden over two distances (65 km and 111 km), with the final part incorporating the route that the professionals will take several hours later. 3 500 participants are expected.

The big new stuff here is no Sölden/Rettenbachferner stage, seems replaced by the much gentler climb to Arosa (lower altitude). This may be a good move, the race has been struggling to attract climbers because it is too hard too close to the TdF. Still one of my favorite 1 week races, and I hope the television rights issues get sorted out (they're often on a bingo channel cause their deals are different from everyone elses..)

Cyclingnews understands 13 WorldTour teams have accepted invitations this year, so a field of 16 to 18 teams would allow for three to five wildcard invitations. With four US Pro Continental teams vying for the remaining spots, the difference is crucial.

An 18-team field would leave room for them all, plus one more. A 16-team field would mean at least one of them misses the cut. And that's assuming the race would prioritize US teams over international teams like the Irish-based Aqua Blue Sport squad of US pro champion Larry Warbasse.

I was sure this would be one of the races that Novo Nordisk would've kept on their reduced calendar, but no.

Anyway the race sponsors include UHC, Rally and (still) Jelly Belly. So the chances of them getting wildcards must be higher than most. Aquablue are mentioned above as a possibilty and the past two years have seen a French PCT outfit come over.

It's not a given that we'll see Hagens Berman and Holowesko, but it would be a real kick in the teeth for them if we didn't.

No longer true for Jelly Belly (well they now don't appear on the rolling carousel of sponsors at the bottom of the race website). So I'm saying the UCI have put their foot down recently about CT teams riding this year and we won't see Jelly Belly.

No Team Wiggins again. I feel sorry for the riders, but the brand is obviously toxic to the organizers. They still invite Sky of course, but not doing that would be a very extreme example of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Gabriel Cullaigh was tweeting something about ToB having a points table (for GB CT invites presumably), so they may have a chance of riding it.

No Team Wiggins again. I feel sorry for the riders, but the brand is obviously toxic to the organizers. They still invite Sky of course, but not doing that would be a very extreme example of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Gabriel Cullaigh was tweeting something about ToB having a points table (for GB CT invites presumably), so they may have a chance of riding it.

Last year there was a system based on this

"The qualification process saw teams score points in British Cycling’s Spring Cup and Grand Prix Series, plus UCI events held in the UK,"

Where teams scored points based on their highest placed rider in the event. It is actually good that there is a criteria that the teams can work to to get a spot on the biggest race in the country when not all of them can.

No Team Wiggins again. I feel sorry for the riders, but the brand is obviously toxic to the organizers. They still invite Sky of course, but not doing that would be a very extreme example of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Will the riders not simply be riding as ?Sure, for the team it'd be nicer PR-wise to be there under their own name ... but as it's a development team, isn't it more important for them to have their riders at the race than their team car?

Something doesn't add up here. They list 17 men's and 14 women's teams, but there are 64 jerseys in the background (2 times 32). The one jersey that can't be matched to any team, men's or women's, is the third from below on the right.Looks like a Mexican national team jersey to me, that one.